CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSSSecond Lieutenant Kaufman was a pilot with VMSB-232, a Marine dive-bombing squadron stationed at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal.

On 14 September 1942, Kaufman and his gunner, Private Barry J. Arnold, were assigned to a routine sector search in company with another SBD.* The patrol passed without incident, and the two aircraft were returning to base at about 1800 hours, when Kaufman’s plane suddenly went into a steep glide at an altitude of 200 feet. The bomber hit the water with a great splash about half a mile from Lunga Point and disappeared immediately.

Both airmen were killed in the incident, and neither man’s body was recovered.